Woodington Middle School set to name basketball court after retired coach

Grady Bethel said that during his 20-year tenure as basketball coach at Woodington Consolidated School, one win remains sweeter than any of the rest.

The retired legend, who will have the court at Woodington Middle School named after him Saturday, recalls a game at the end of the 1964 season.

Bethel said the Longhorns — Woodington’s nickname before integration in the early 1970s — had lost twice to Bayboro during the regular season. At the time, Bayboro boasted four players that had collegiate scholarships.

On March 6, Woodington was slated for a third match-up in Trenton, the site of the District Six Class 2A Championship.

“I would have rather won that game than maybe even the state championship,” Bethel said. “Everyone, including the principal, said we couldn’t win and that we needed to hold the score down.

“I said ‘We’re going to win this game.’ ”

Bethel’s prediction rang true as his undersized Longhorns defeated Bayboro, 91-61, and won the championship.

“They were taller than we were. We knew if we missed, we wouldn’t get the ball back,” Bethel said. “We decided to run them to death. Those big boys got tired and we won that game.”

Lynwood Grady was a captain on that 1964 team. He said Bethel always had his teams conditioned.

“Defense and being in shape were his two big things. No one was going to score a lot of points on us.” Grady said. “We beat them so bad. I loved it.”

Many of Bethel’s former players will return to Kinston this weekend when Grady Bethel Court will be unveiled at Woodington.

Ida Gooding, the president of the Woodington High School Alumni, said honoring Bethel was important in making current students aware of the school’s history.

“We wanted something at Woodington to let students know that it was once a black school,” Gooding said. “We wanted to let students know we were there.”

Gooding said the alumni association got the idea for naming the court after South Lenoir High School named its basketball court after fellow Kinston/Lenoir County Sports Hall of Fame member Jimmy Smith.

In 1971, Bethel became the principal of Southeast Elementary. Although he said he missed coaching, he said Southeast was perfect for him. He left Woodington with over 300 wins and a winning percentage of 82.6.

Lenoir County Schools board member Garland Nobles Jr. played for Bethel from 1965 to 1967.

“He was very demanding but Coach was one of the best coaches I’ve ever known,” Nobles said. “This is a well-deserved honor.”

The ceremony honoring Bethel will be held at the Woodington Gym at noon on Saturday.

“It’s a tremendous honor,” Bethel said. “If people have you in their hearts and minds after 39 years, I think that’s awesome. It means you had to have touched somebody.”

Justin Hill can be reached at 559-1078 or jhill@freedomenc.com.

Breakout box:

Bethel’s basketball success at Woodington

n 1964 — Named to “Century Club” Honor Roll of Veteran Coaches

n 1967-68 — Coached Woodington Consolidated School to back-to-back 2A State Sportsmanship Award

n 1969 — Coached Woodington Consolidated School to 2A State Championship

n 1971 — Coached Woodington Junior High School to a record of 26-0

n Former players include:

• Johnnie Lyles – Former Board of Education Chairman
• Garland Nobles Jr. – Board of Education
• Remus Stanley – County Commissioner